Atkinson, Kate: One Good Turn

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TWEETABLE REVIEW: 5* 2nd book in Jackson Brodie series finds ex-P.I. in Edinburgh, harassed by a bat-wielding thug. A delightful read. https://www.book-blog.com/2012/06/atkinson-kate-one-good-turn.html

The second installment in Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie series is as good as the first (Case Histories, see my review), which is to say that it's a perfect read. Jackson, who's been loafing in France since he inherited millions from an eccentric client, is in Edinburgh with Julie, the flighty actress he met over a cold case in his first outing. Jackson is not a man suited to retirement, so he's not very unhappy to run into trouble while in Scotland. He witnesses a road rage incident that winds up being part of a web of inter-connected crimes. It also leads to a series of run-ins with the police and Jackson's introduction to Detective Inspector Louise Monroe: the spark between them should make for interesting reading in subsequent books. Much of the bad stuff being done in Edinburgh--from bat-wielding thugs to dead bodies to shoddy housing developments to drowned kittens--can be laid at the door of Graham Hatter, construction mogul and philanderer. He spends the book lying in a hospital bed near death while his wife Gloria--an intriguing character--enjoys her quiet time and tells Graham's callers that he's in Thurso. A delightful read from start to finish.